Whirling Dervishrnby Charles Edward EatonrnGreen is whirling, whirling—who can stop it?rnEcstasy is health, but has some aspects of disease:rnKeep turning like the dervish—you fall or vomit.rnWhat an odd figure this may seem for spring! —rnThe daze of green makes you dizzv as a wobbling top:rnGreen is in the air you breathe—the pollen and thernpoisoning.rnThe dervish must feel the universe has him by the throatrnAs the tightest feeling sometimes grabs the lover:rnF^or allergic eyes looking at the richest pictures —nornremote.rnThere is, you sense, an emerald grinding in your skull,rnThe flying fragments pack the reaches of the brain:rnThe impact of two greens—the world is throbbing withrnthe beautiful.rnRoses, sunflowers—such etceteral—wiW fling their colorsrnAs the season moes. The object is to whirl and stay onrnfoot:rnThe force of vertigo is not without its object-subjectrndolors.rnSomehow for lovers, the angel of evenness comes tornrescue —rnThe magic of balance moves across the most exquisiterndays:rnYou embrace the manifold, and it is in love with vou.rnDICTATIONSrnFreedom From Freedom of ReligionrniC Â¥: laith-based initiatives”? Sounds like the Presidentrnmay be talking about a crusade or a 12-step programrnrun by the Salvation Army. What he has inrnmind, of course, is the enlistment of “religious” groups inrngovernment programs designed to reform the world. Criticsrnand supporters of the proposal both invoke the principle ofrn”freedom of religion,” which is interpreted, on one hand, byrnanti-Christians like the Re’. Al Shaipton to mean freedomrnfrom religion and, on the other hand, b)’ members of the socalledrn(christian so-called Right to mean the freedom to imposerntheir woozy notions on the children of darkness.rnFaith (Greek pistis) is literally the trust that Christiansrnplace in their Creator and their Savior, as well as the theologicalrnand historical basis of that trust as summed up in thernScriptures and the Creeds. .’Vlthough the Old Testamentrnspeaks often of trust in God, for Jews (almost as much asrnGreeks), the emphasis was on the objective fulfillment ofrnone’s ritual duties rather than on the believer’s state of mind.rnFor Christians, faith became synonvmous with belief andrnwas used for the entire Church or its arious warring parts.rn”Religion” and “religious,” although we use them looselyrnto refer to Christianitv’ or a branch thereof and to any instihitionrndirected toward worship of a god or gods, arc alsornused in the narrower sense of “dutifully carrying out anrnobligation.” We speak of religious clergv’ who have taken additionalrnvows and of people who mow their lawns “religiously.”rnT his usage goes back to the original Latin sense ofrnreligio: the fulfillment of a duty, particularly to the gods.rn’I he dutiful fulfillment of rihial obligation was the hallmarkrnof Roman “religion,” and the Latin term has been adoptedrnas a technical term b- .sociologists of “religion.”rnOver the last hundred years, we iiave fallen into sloppyrnhabits of speech—and, tlierefore, of thought—and instead ofrnreferring k> “common traditions of C^hristians and Jews,” wernliae allowed “Judeo-Christian” to be imposed on us, a termrnthat should be ofFensi’e to both Jews and Christians, whosernspecific beliefs are hvbridizcd into .something resembling arnchurkey. Lately, we seem to be granting religious status tornanyone with faith enough to bite the head off a chicken orrnget stoned on pe}’ote. As usual, the leaders of the so-calledrnChristian so-called Right lead the way, defending the religiousrnfreedom of Korean messiahs and the followers of a scifirnwriter who put a smilcy-face on ;leister Crowley.rnWe ought to ban the use of the word “religion” except inrnthe I ,atin sense, restrict “faith” to its proper meaning of a svstcmrnof belief and trust in God, and speak othenvise onlv ofrnChristianity or Judaism or Islam or Santeria. If the result isrnthat Aztecs caimot slaughter goats and children in theirrnbasements, no tears should be .shed. If the government canrnonly tolerate me by tolerating them, I prefer persecution.rn—tlumpty Dwnpt}’rn12/CHRONICLESrnrnrn
January 1975April 21, 2022By The Archive
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